34631 N Tom Darlington Dr, Carefree, Arizona 85262, US
(480) 488-9009
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About The Boulders Resort & Spa Scottsdale

Located in Carefree just north of Scottsdale is the Boulders Resort, a Curio Collection hotel by Hilton. This 1,200-acre resort and community features striking, millions-year-old boulder formations and two, 18-hole golf courses that encircle them. The resort is a village compound with spacious casitas with private balconies, as well as a handful of villas and homes for rent. The golf club features two courses, the North and South, as well as a driving range and golf academy. Boulders is well known for its Golden Door Spa with 33,000 square feet and 24 treatment rooms, plus a wide variety of fitness classes and programming. There are five dining concepts, highlighted by the Spotted Donkey Cantina, well known locally for its Mexican fare. The beauty and tranquility of the Sonoran Desert is on full, luxurious display at the Boulders Resort.

Facts

Price Range$$$$, $$$
Property Class★★★★★
Acres1200
Year Opened1985
Number of Units100-300

Amenities

RestaurantsFine, Bar, Casual
Room TypesSuite, Villas/Casitas
PoolAdults Only
TennisYes
Fitness CenterYes
Practice FacilityYes
Golf School/AcademyYes
Banquet SpaceYes
SpaYes

Services

Room ServiceYes
ConciergeYes

Rules

Is the resort pet friendly?No
Is resort stay required for a tee time?No

Golf courses at The Boulders Resort & Spa Scottsdale

Golfer Photos

Reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
1316 Reviews (1316)
Reviews 4
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Played

Great Course but wow Greens are unrealistic

Played Boulders before and love the layout. Tight but fair. Would have rated it better but the greens at this time of year are borderline unplayable. Unlike most quality courses in this region where everything is over seeded including greens, Boulders seems to have a different grass on the greens. Its almost like its dormant. Rolls very well but rock hard and about 12 on the stimp if not more. The design of the course makes this very challenging to navigate. Took away from the enjoyment to some degree. You may love this but we felt it was a little unfair.

Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart
4.0
4.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 4.0
Value 4.0
Layout 4.0
Friendliness 4.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 4.0
Difficulty 5.0
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 5.0
Reviews 17
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Played

Better courses for less money in the area

The course was nice but the greens are terrible

They have two courses; guest play the south course which is average for the area ; the north course greens are immaculate. Try the ritz Carlton at dove mountain in Tucson. $100 less and far better condition

We played it and it was championship caliber

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
4.0
4.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 3.0
Value 2.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 3.0
Amenities 5.0
Reviews 447
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Worth playing on the one day a week it’s not private

For the overwhelming majority of visitors, the South Course is what people associate with the Boulders. But on Tuesdays, when the South Course is closed for maintenance, the usually-private North Course welcomes visitors and resort guests.

It is somewhat less flashy than its sibling, but as an end-to-end golf experience, it is delightful, with several holes that feel intimate but provide plenty of room to play, and several greens with diverse hole locations that can change things up nicely one day to the next. In other words: a near-ideal members’ course at a fantastic overall facility.

Golf Advisor
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Layout 4.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
Difficulty 3.0
Reviews 43
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played

Still an awesome course

Played this course for the first time since 2018, and it is still fantastic and a blast to play, not to mention beautiful!

Regular prices have gone way up, but the occasional hot deals are reasonable for a Scottsdale area golf of this caliber, and everything is included.

Nice pace throughout and friendly staff, course was in great condition, except the greens which were burnt out; putts were still fast and true, but approach shots could not bite at all, making them less pleasant than other courses in the area.

Verified Purchaser
Quebec Advisor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 4.0
Value 4.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
Difficulty 4.0
Reviews 4
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Boulders South--Updated Info

Recent reviews about long rounds were concerning, however, South is OFF cart path only and a marshall was on hand. 4.5 hr round which is expected given distances between tees, etc. All good!

Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 4.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 5.0
Difficulty 4.0
Reviews 3
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played

Great Day, Great Course

The surroundings were beautiful. The course was in great shape. Fast greens. Hard to read. The course is extremely challenging, because your tee shot is either in the fairway or out of play. Not much in between.

Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 4.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 4.0
Difficulty 5.0
Reviews 22
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played

Boulders

This is an awesome course with great views and a wonderful layout. Always a pleasure to play here.

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 4.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 4.0
Reviews 12
Recommended
Played
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 4.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 4.0
Reviews 8
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 5.0
Difficulty 4.0
Reviews 22
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played

Boulders

Great course with friendly staff. Beautiful views will make you forget bad shots.

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 4.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 4.0
Review 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played

Boulders is a must!!

If you are anywhere near Phoenix Boulders GC is an absolute must!! Great course, Scenery and Staff!!

Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 4.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
Recommended
Played

Fantastic vistas, tough layout for a first timer

Absolutely beautiful aesthetically speaking. However, for a first-timer, the course design makes it super hard to know where to hit and the software in the cart is not great to help you. Without a range finder in your bag, you will need some luck out there.

Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
4.0
4.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 4.0
Value 2.0
Layout 3.0
Friendliness 4.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 4.0
Reviews 20
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
4.0
4.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 4.0
Value 3.0
Layout 3.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 3.0
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Played

Overpriced... Slow play ..no course ranger

. Do not play this course if you have other choices. It's overpriced compared to every other premium public course in Scottsdale. It took over five hours to play around. We waited on every shot at the turn, the staff told us to hurry up, we said where ? The final insult injury was they don't give you any bottles of water. There are none available in the course and you can buy a bottle of water for 9 dollars. I used to love the boulders. No more.

Previously Played
1.0
1.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 2.0
Value 1.0
Layout 3.0
Pace 1.0
Amenities 2.0
Reviews 14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Beautiful site

The course was absolutely picturesque and very challenging!

The cart path only rule made it a long round. Over 5 1/2 hours. Still a great place to play, if you get the chance

Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 4.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 3.0
Amenities 5.0
Reviews 15
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Played

Playing the Boulders south during overseeding

Would not play the course with overseeding and no driving range for warm up. The 14.00 dollar beers was extreme too.

Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart
3.0
3.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 2.0
Value 1.0
Layout 4.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 3.0
Amenities 1.0
Difficulty 2.0
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Boulders

Excellent layout with great backdrop of boulders on South course. Varied hole layouts make for interesting round.

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
4.0
4.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 4.0
Value 3.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 4.0
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Played

Not worth it, Customer Experience is NOT their priority

Second time playing The Boulders, and the course layout and landscape is second to none in the PHX area, but that's about where the good times end. Tee times are already expensive, but F&B is way too spendy, feels like I'm at a stadium and they're trying to rip you off. Our drinks and breakfast burritos to start the day was over $200... Our 8:30 AM round took 5 1/2 HOURS! Groups severely backed up on every tee box, it's cart path only this time of year, which really sucks, but they need to space out the times better so it's reasonable to play without waiting for every shot.

We didn't see the beverage service cart until hole 11, (3 hours into the round) but the worst part of all of it was THERE WERE MAINTENCE CREW ON EVERY SINGLE HOLE. Mowing, blowing, digging, pulling weeds, and being extremely noisy without any regard to the golfers. Horrible ettiquite. They continued to run their machines while we were putting, oftentimes the mowers drove right past us in the fairways, followed by multiple guys with leaf blowers 50 years away.. and on one par 3, the mower didn't stop mowing the fringe the whole time we were teeing off. It felt like I was at Top Golf trying to hit the guy grabbing the balls...

Overall, an awful experience. We talked to the director, John, after our round to bring up our concerns, and his response surprised us at the time, but looking back, seems par for the course out there. He said he would "do some research" and email me... To which today I got his email saying "next time you come out, let me know and I'll see what I can do."

Customer Service starts at the top buddy, and your staff clearly gets their attitude from you. There won't be a next time for us, unfortunately.

Previously Played
2.0
2.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 4.0
Value 1.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 2.0
Pace 1.0
Amenities 3.0
Reviews 6
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Played

Visuals still the only draw

The Boulders has unprecedented real estate which will continually draw golfers to pay terribly high rates for a look at the views. This course needs some serious attention and updates. The golf carts and on-cart technology is from the 90’s, worked about 4-5 holes of my round and my cart had 4-5 large holes in it. The course, though in overseeding and beautiful green color, was years behind in its upkeep with improper edging around bunkers and greens that had long lost their original shape and design. I hate to speak this way about The Boulders as the terrain and views are beyond compare, the rest of this enterprise is lost in the 90’s.

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
3.0
3.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 3.0
Value 2.0
Layout 4.0
Friendliness 3.0
Pace 2.0
Amenities 3.0
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